Darkness in every corner
by The Darkness Knight
Summary: The newest name on the Blacklist, the Recruiter has thrown Elizabeth Keen to her breaking point in every aspect. When things take a turn for the worst, Red sends her to find a lead on the one someone who can help her, but is this a simple assistance with a case, or does Red know more about this new partner then he has led her to believe?
1. Chapter 1: The Next Name

**Alright, this is just a random idea I've been playing around with for a few months now. I swear, I've gotten so hooked on this show. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the ride because its going to be a doozy. I do hope I portrayed everyone the right way, this is definitely one of my most emotional pieces of work I think I've done in a long time.**

Another case, that's what she always told herself, it was a new case and therefore a new member of the Blacklist. This had become a common thing for Elizabeth Keen, although…her life couldn't get any worse.

She had been out of Quantico for nearly six months and ever since she joined the Post Office team, ever since Reddington contacted them saying he would only talk to her it has caused stress upon stress, worry upon worry; doubt upon doubt. It cost the perfect life she was trying to build with her husband Tom, the adoption, the fake IDs, it was all weighing down on her, and now it felt like there was a weight on her shoulders that would never go away.

She had spoken with Red that morning, while yes, Elizabeth had no doubt in her mind that the FBI or at least the Post Office was starting to suspect her, while the investigation into the mole in the task force was gone somehow, she had no doubt that they were still watching her to make sure she wasn't compromised.

* * *

_A few hours before…_

"Betrayal is the one thing society can never really deal with, the idea that betrayal happens at any time, in the corporate world, it's referred to as corporate espionage, in marriage, you call it cheating and in the military you call it betraying your country…" Red Reddington passed a file in a vanilla folder "And Christopher Walker is the type of man who knows all about that. A former solider now turned mercenary for the highest bidder."

"And why wasn't he flagged before?"

"The Recruiter is not one to operate alone, according to my sources, he has an entire team who make them all disappear."

"What do they do? You said they were mercenaries." Elizabeth whispered

"They do the one thing that your world leaders are not keen on doing, they destroy countries."

Liz looked at him with shock on her face, she had been asked to take down a freelancer, a man who was known to help criminals disappear, and a man who impregnated women and ran an adoption fraud, but this… this was getting to be too much.

"Lizzie I wouldn't go to you if I knew anyone else could do it." Red replied calmly "The Recruiter will eventually target his home country, right now he's started small, targeting African and South American countries who couldn't sustain their government who were on brink of destruction like what happened in Cairo. I highly doubt we'll want that to happen here now do we?"

* * *

His words rang in her mind like a church bell as they began to move on a warehouse lead they gathered through various sources, now it was time, they would storm the warehouse, take this guy out, and when it was all over…Liz had some questions for Reddington.

Ressler took point on the left side of the door, SWAT team members behind them, Keen on the right "Move in…now!"

The door was smacked open with a battering ram and the FBI moved in, the room was large, two stories and barely any lighting, only amount coming in was from the giant window on the roof.

"Move on every angle, don't let anything go unchecked."

They quickly moved in all directions, their feet leading them into the darkness, Liz kept her breath under control as she used her training to keep her cool as she proceeded down what she believed down a hallway.

There was nothing, at least as far as she could see and that deeply upset her, a sigh escaped her lips as she leaned against a solid structure which she assumed to be a wall, the stress of these past couple of weeks had really been getting to her, even more so then she led herself to believe.

Her breaking point was the baby, ever since Liz told Tom that she doubted them enough to deny the one thing that the young couple had been waiting for, the baby and now it seemed like the doubt she felt about Tom was growing day by day, right now he was sitting in Orlando for a teacher's conference and she had a feeling that she and Tom were done, it had gotten so rotten for her that she kept her wedding ring on a chain around her neck, a typical training technique as well as her own personal choice, if an agent got captured, then nothing had to be known about them, especially personal connections.

But she knew she didn't want it, she didn't want to have this doubt and this hurt anymore, she knew the pressure of being a federal agent but to have this much was too much to bear, but something kept drawing her back, maybe it was the mystery of Red Reddington himself, or maybe it was because of the difference she had in her life.

She didn't realize it, but her phone was going off in the pocket of her trench coat, her mind was so lost in thought, she quickly pulled it out and saw Assistant Director Cooper's name on the screen.

"Agent Keen."

"_Hello Agent Keen, or does he call you Lizzie?" _

Keen's eyes went wide with fear "Who are you and how did you get this number?"

"_Oh you don't need to worry about how I got this number Agent Keen, as for who I am, I'm sure you've been looking into me…oh wait, you have. My name is Christopher Walker." _

She sighed "The Recruiter. So tell me, what now?"

"_That depends Lizzie, right now I'm leaving you with a choice, I have seven mercenaries at your Assistant Director's location, and I also have the details as to whom I'm going to target next in the next room over from where you are. You will have three minutes to choose, once you choose…then you will lose the other." _

The line went dead and Elizabeth nearly crushed her cell phone in her hand, she tapped the ear piece she had in place "Ressler, Cooper and Malik have been compromised."

"_And the plan is…" _

"The Recruiter doesn't know there are two of us, I'm going on ahead to find Cooper, you get those plans."

"_Alright, alright. Good luck." _

Elizabeth raced out of the warehouse moving as best as she could, adrenaline on high as she hoped for the worst.

* * *

Fire was all she saw, her eyes went wide with fear as she climbed out of her car and raced over to the source of the fire. FBI SWAT members were dead, agents scattered across the street, her phone immediately dialed 911 emergency as she raced over, she was praying for the worst, hoping that the phone call was just a taunt.

Her fears were brought to be true, Meera had blood falling from a wound on her forehead as she tried to pull Cooper away from one of the vans.

"What happened?"

"They started shooting, Director Cooper got caught in the explosion."

Fear spread through Elizabeth as she helped Meera pull Cooper to the side, he wasn't responding, his pulse was weak and blood was gushing from his face and body as the paramedics arrived.

* * *

A sigh escaped her lips as she checked her phone again for the tenth time since she stood at the meeting point which was a small square in DC away from most commotion but enough for a few people to walk their dogs or play with their children, she was hoping Tom would at least call, the sea urchin of doubt continued to plague her about her marriage lasting, this one little thing, most marriages ended because of an affair, funds or not loving each other, but her job? That sounded completely insane.

Cooper had made it through surgery, several cracked ribs, internal bleeding and second degree burns but he pulled through, he was in a coma but the doctors thought he was going to make it, Meera had a few cuts and bruises and Ressler had acquired the information before the drives exploded, unfortunately all of it was heavily encrypted, no word from Aram yet on the files yet either.

"So it would seem I was right about the Recruiter."

She turned to Red sitting beside her, a content look on his face as he watched the people enjoy every day life in the park.

"Director Cooper is in a coma, you didn't tell me he knew about us."

"Oh I failed to mention that didn't I? Some of the greatest tragedies in history were caused by simple mistakes like that, just look at what happened during the bombings in Japan during World War II? We all knew the atomic bombs would do a lot, we just never knew the severity of the side effects."

"Your point?"

"My point Lizzie, is that I forgot to mention he's called the Recruiter for a reason, the man has recruited others into his cause, and I wouldn't be surprised if a few FBI agents were on his pay roll."

"So what now?"

"I assume you're down to Malik, Donald and Aram right? Harold's been incapacitated?"

"How did you know that?"

"As I always told you Lizzie, I'm a criminal, a shame really, I'll be sure to send flowers." Red reached into his coat "I need you to run something down for me." He pulled out a folder "This contains information on a man named Jeremy Bentham, I need you to take it to Seton Medical Center and ask for Doctor Xavier Gutierrez. Tell him his favor from Panama is due, he'll know the rest."

She took the folder "how do I know I can trust what you're telling me?"

"Because you've been compromised Lizzie, you wouldn't make your trips so frequent to me if you knew that even deep down that you can't keep going the way that you're going. You're hoping that I'll provide some sort of information that'll be able to save your marriage that I'm going to run out of names on the list." Reddington looked at her "I warned you to be careful of your husband, and soon now it's coming back to rear its ugly head."

She looked at him and sighed, standing up and walking away, leaving Red alone on the bench. It just seemed too easy, too much like something was bound to happen, nothing good she knew would come out of it.

Just another simple mistake was all she kept telling herself.


	2. Chapter 2: Bentham Part 1

**I am so sorry for the lack of updating this story. I wanted to wait a bit, see what people thought of it, it has been all positive and I'm so thankful to everyone who has read and reviewed this story, I promise, from here on out, it will be picking up very quickly.**

The flight to California was faster than expected, luckily the FBI's travel service was more convenient than the normal flights out which would have taken hours. For Elizabeth, being alone only made things worse.

The more she focused on her job, the more she realized how much she had sacrificed to get to where she is now, but it also meant how much she was going to lose if things didn't get fixed, she knew with Tom it would take time, but she hoped it would, things just seemed to enter a stand still for her.

Of course, these thoughts all were flooding together during an off the books assignment given to her by Red, an ally that most would rather have a bullet in his head then have her, the rookie work with him, but this one…this one she needed Reddington's help.

Cooper's condition continued to get worse and she had a feeling it was only a matter of time before he did wake up, but her hope continued to die as the days went by.

"_Hey this is Tom Keen, leave a message." _

She sighed "Tom, it's me, I know you said we should talk about what happened before you left for Orlando…well I'm here; I don't think this is good for us. Please call me back when you get this." Turning off her phone she felt her heart sink.

* * *

The smell of a chemical lab burned into her nostrils as Liz walked down the halls of Seton Medical Center in California, her eyes watching the scientists and students working, she walked over to a small lab where other scientists were experimenting with test tubes and beakers, each one of the seven were giving Liz strange looks until she held up her badge.

They backed off revealing an elderly man was looking intensely at his computer, fingers pounding on the keyboard as he looked occasionally at a small tablet then returning to his computer, Liz cautiously approached and cleared her throat.

"Doctor Xavier Gutierrez?"

He didn't even look at her "Who wants to know?"

"A mutual friend sent a message. It's time to return the favor from Panama."

That caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand up on edge, his right arm twitched as he turned to face Liz, his graying red hair was pulled back, a thick beard covered his face, half-moon glasses covered his black eyes and a look of ease spread on his face.

Xavier moved a few inches "Students, give us five minutes."

Most gave confused looks but obeyed and walked out of their teacher's laboratory, leaving the two of them alone, Elizabeth felt her hand subconsciously reaching for her gun.

"So, how long have you been working for Reddington?"

She gave him a confused look "I'm not working for him."

"Oh, so you're sleeping with him." Xavier gave her a look of examination and curiosity "You're a bit too young for him aren't you?"

"I'm not sleeping with him, he's working with the FBI."

Xavier gave a sigh of knowledge "So, he finally did it huh, well, I guess if he sent you to find me, it must mean you need my help."

"He asked me to give you this file on a man named Jeremy Bentham."

Xavier took the file and flipped it open, his fingers moving through the pages, eyes scanning over each and every one with a photographic memory that seemed to mimic any Nobel Prize winner.

"So, he's finally asking about Bentham huh? Well, I won't have any answers for you yet, I'll send for you as soon as I have something concrete."

"What do you mean 'he's finally asking about' him?"

"Agent Keen, please see yourself out, or I will have you removed from the premises." Xavier spoke coldly as he turned to his computer

She rolled her eyes and stormed out, a sigh escaped her lips as she flipped her phone to Nick's Pizza.

* * *

"_Lizzie, I take it Xavier is going to help." _

"You trust someone who is like a robot? He barely broke away from his computer, it wasn't until I told him about the target."

"_Xavier is an old friend of mine Lizzie, we knew each other years ago back in the Navy, but we eventually hit a fork in the road that was our military career, while I became a concierge of crime, he became one of the top forensic experts in the state of California." _

Liz sighed in pure annoyance, if there was one thing that annoyed her it was when Red circled around the answer she needed "He seemed relieved when you wanted to look up Bentham."

"_Lizzie, Bentham is someone I have been looking for during these last few years, I believe he has information regarding your husband." _

"Are you still hung up on the idea that Tom is not who he says he is?"

"_You just need to be careful Agent Keen, the little life you developed, the adoption, the high paying job, your husband, all of it will change as time will progress."_

"You keep saying that like you know what's going to happen. What are you so worried I'll find?"

Red took a pause "_I would focus on this, the Recruiter has been on the move again, an entire shopping complex in east Manhattan was just ripped apart by his people. I'm keeping an eye out but you need to find Bentham, you find him, then we get the solution." _With that, the line went dead

* * *

She somehow drifted from her hotel room to the bar, sometimes she just wanted this stupid job to end, her work with the post office was a great opportunity, but she knew one of two things would happen out of that job, either she would resign and Reddington would be put back in jail, or the team would disappear right along with the knowledge they ever existed, something she knew the FBI was known for doing when they want to cover something up.

Liz let her hand move the scotch in her glass around and just let her mind drift, she did that often, but this time, she just wanted to forget everything that had happened, just get back to normal, just be with her husband, adopting a child and just living a normal life.

She quickly drew the alcohol down her throat and prepared to order another when a hand touched hers, she looked at the person to reveal a man a few years younger than her, right parted brown hair, scruff on his face and cat like brown eyes, and to her….he looked like a younger version of Reddington.

"Forgive my interruption Agent Keen, but I figured you have an image to keep."

She looked at him, the alcohol taking effect "And how did you know I'm an FBI agent?"

"Well for one, you told me, two, your badge by your right hand tells a lot."

She looked down at her wallet sitting beside her, the FBI ID sitting right inside "Oh, right, well, you figured it out, so what are you going to do? Arrest me?"

"Oh no, I'm not a cop, unlike an off duty cop I met back in Nassau, he always acted like he was on duty, made his job impressively difficult when he tried to actually wear his own handcuffs."

She gave him a confused look "I don't understand."

"And that, would be the booze kicking in." The man helped her to her feet and slipped her jacket over her shoulders

Liz shook her head "I guess you're right, by the way, who are you?"

"They call me John, John Locke."

She nodded "Nice to meet you Mister Locke."

He smiled gently at her "Good luck with your work Agent Keen." As Liz walked away, he looked away "Your world is going to crash around you."

* * *

She slept soundly, after once again leaving Tom another voice mail and checking in with the team, they of course had nothing on the Recruiter but she knew they were looking into the Manhattan shooting.

She wasn't all the way asleep, she didn't realize it until her phone began to ring, she began to stir and tucked her bed head brown locks behind her ear and placed her phone to her ear.

"Agent Keen?" Elizabeth said sleepily

"_Agent Keen, I'm sorry for the call so late, its Doctor Gutierrez, I know who Jeremy Bentham is."_

**I promise, this story is going to pick up and I will update as soon as I can with each one, I wanted to wait and see how season one was turning out and now I have a really good idea for this. Once again, I am so thankful and grateful to everyone who has read and reviewed this story, please keep reading, the Blacklist has just begun. **


End file.
